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Anton Rodin, Drew Miller Sign Overseas

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On the same day he cleared waivers and had his contract terminated by the Vancouver Canucks, Anton Rodin has returned to Europe. However, the Swedish forward is not going back to Brynas of the Swedish Hockey League, where he spent most of his prime years, including an MVP season in 2015-16. Instead, the 27-year-old winger has signed with HC Davos of the NLA, the Swiss club announced. Davos reports that Rodin has signed a two-year deal that will keep him in Switzerland through the end of the 2018-19 season.

The hope for Davos is obviously that Rodin will perform more like he did in his previous European career than he has in the disastrous past season plus for the Vancouver Canucks. Injury and ineffectiveness left Rodin with only four points in 13 total games, NHL and AHL, over the last two seasons. Davos, which sits in fifth place in the NLA, needs a much better effort than that from their newest acquisition.

Meanwhile, while struggling Swedish squad Brynas may be disappointed that their former superstar Rodin chose not to return home, they made the most of the situation by going out and getting a big name of their own. The team announced that they have signed NHL veteran Drew Miller. The long-time Detroit Red Wings forward was unable to turn a tryout with the Chicago Blackhawks this fall into a contract and has been without a job since. He now makes his first foray overseas, joining a Brynas squad that has fallen on hard times. However, with an intelligent, hard-working forward like Miller now in the fold and playing alongside a player of similar ilk in Daniel Paille, it’s not too late for Brynas to learn to play a smart, two-way game and climb back up the standings.

 

Jay McClement Signs With Swiss Club Olten

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It’s been a whirlwind month for consummate pro Jay McClement. The veteran center was very nearly the winner of the third-line center sweepstakes for the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Instead, the team released him to the surprise of many after an impressive effort in the team’s preseason finale. Now, less than thirty days later, McClement has finally found employment – with EHC Olten of the NLB.

The Swiss National League B, the relative minor league to much more well-known NLA, seems like an odd landing spot for a veteran of more than 900 NHL games. However, the team has confirmed the signing (link in Swiss) with much excitement. The contract is only for 2017-18, but holds a mutual option for next season. Could McClement exercise that option? He is 34, far from his prime, but just a few years ago played one of his best seasons – an 82-game, 21-point 2014-15 campaign with the Carolina Hurricanes. McClement seems to have some gas left in the tank, so an extended stay in the Swiss minors would be surprising. However, McClement could more or less be done with hockey and sees Olten as a “retirement job”.

Olten isn’t completely unknown. The NLB squad in a perennial contender and rosters to other NHL veterans, Americans Tim Stapleton and Ryan Vesce. Neither has skated in the league since 2010, but nevertheless bring an experience and style that McClement could work with.

If it doesn’t work out? There’s a chance that McClement could be a contender for a bottom-six role for Team Canada at the Olympics, which would take up a significant amount of his time over the course of this season. Then, when his contract expires, don’t be surprised if McClement declines his offer and tries again at one last chance in the NHL.

Teddy Purcell, Lauri Korpikoski Sign Overseas

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Two of the more notable names left without an NHL contract when the 2017-18 season began have come to terms on new deals elsewhere. Teddy Purcell, a former 65-point scorer who of late was on a PTO with the Boston Bruins, signed with the KHL’s Avangard Omsk today, the team announced. Lauri Korpikoski, fresh off a strong campaign with the Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets, somewhat surprisingly drew little attention this off-season and has now signed with the ZSC Lions of the NLA, according to a team release. The former Edmonton teammates will each look to rejuvenate their careers overseas this season.

Purcell, 32, was had a roller coaster career. The undrafted University of Maine product made a surprise jump to the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings in 2007-08 after just one year of college and made an immediate impact. After being swapped for Jeff Halpern early in his career, Purcell took off with the Tampa Bay Lightning, scoring 51 points his first season and 65 the next. His scoring continued, but that didn’t stop the Bolts from trading him to the Edmonton Oilers, who in turn traded him to the Florida Panthers less than two years later. During this time, Purcell had continued to be a consistent scorer no matter where he landed. So, when Purcell given nearly no attention in the free agent market last year and ended up back in L.A. and soon after buried in the minors, it came as a shock to many. This time around, no one was surprised when Purcell was unable to turn his tryout in Boston into a contract, but the fact remains that there is still no evidence that Purcell ever stopped being a solid play-making forward. Now in Russia, Purcell has the potential to light it up with Avangard. Don’t be surprised if the swift winger scores early and often in the KHL and catches the eye of the Canadian Olympic team.

As for Korpikoski, his off-season went much like Purcell’s last year. 20 points in 60 games aren’t eye-popping numbers, but it was a pleasantly surprising season for Korpikoski in Dallas. The two-way forward had never been a big producer – his career high 40 points came back in 2010-11 with the Phoenix Coyotes, a team on which he was pressed into a top-six role due to a lack of talent – but Korpikoski had made a career out of his well-rounded game. A 2004 first-round pick of the New York Rangers, the now-31-year-old was a hard-working and reliable player for long stretches in New York and Arizona, but a drop-off in production in the desert and a subsequent trade to the Edmonton Oilers in 2015 looked like the beginning of the end. Yet, the Stars took a gamble last summer and it paid off with a sold effort from Korpikoski and a trade return of young defenseman Dillon Heatherington from Columbus at the deadline. However, the renewed interest never came and Korpikoski has had to settle for Switzerland. With ZSC, Korpikoski will join a talented NLA team and will get a chance to skate alongside NHL veterans like Robert Nilsson and Drew Shore. While Finland is in better shape for the upcoming Winter Games than the U.S. or Canada, don’t count out the possibility of the veteran Finn winger from getting the call to go to Pyeongchang as well.

Overseas Notes: Da Costa, Streit, Steen

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Yet another NHL veteran who was trying to hold out for a new contract in North America is now close to settling for European employment. The Swiss Hockey News reports that Stephane Da Costa is nearing an agreement with Geneve-Servette of the Swiss NLA. Da Costa, 28, was a superstar at Merrimack College from 2009 to 2011 and looked to be the next great story in the NHL after signing with the Ottawa Senators – an undrafted player coming from a non-traditional hockey country of France. While Da Costa proved to be a lethal producer in the AHL, he could never quite stick in Ottawa and left the NHL in 2012. Da Costa spent the past three years with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, putting up solid numbers, but it has been his international play on the part of France that has really turned heads. Beginning with a stellar 10-point performance at the World Championships last spring, Da Costa had reportedly been drawing interest from NHL teams and fully planned on playing with the world’s best this season. Yet, with the new season underway, those offers never came and it seems Da Costa is now ready to move on. While Geneve-Servette is off to a tough start in the NLA – second-to-last currently – they are not without considerable talent up front, including NHL veterans Nathan Gerbe, Nick Spaling, and Cody Almond, as well as San Jose Sharks prospect Noah Rod. Da Costa could help kick start a team that typically performs near the top of the NLA and made it to the final of the 2017 Swiss Cup tournament.

  • Da Costa hasn’t yet signed with Geneve-Servette, but by the time he does he may no longer be the biggest name in terms of recent additions. With Mark Streit being placed on waivers by the Montreal Canadiens yesterday (with a very good chance of clearing today), it seems more likely that the veteran defenseman will ask for his release than be assigned to the AHL but the Canadiens. Given that the soon-to-be-40-year-old could have simply rode off into the sunset after winning the Stanley Cup last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, it is clear that he wants to keep playing. That opportunity will likely come in his native country of Switzerland, where Streit has suited up for the NLA’s HC Davos, ZSC Lions, and SC Bern over his career. A return home to much fanfare and a chance to play in the Olympics seems like much more fitting end for Streit than playing in the minors
  • A seemingly minor move in the KHL could be of some interest to Boston Bruins fans. In a round-up of their minor transaction over the past few days, the league revealed that the rights to forward Oskar Steen, Boston’s sixth-round pick in 2016, had been acquired by SKA St. Petersburg. While Steen has been playing for Farjestad of the SHL for three years now, an opportunity to play for SKA may be tough for the young Swede forward to pass up. Farjestad is no slouch, but SKA has been wildly successful in recent years, winning two of the past three KHL titles and again tearing up the league with a 17-point lead over the next-best team. SKA graduated players like Vadim Shipachyov and Evgeni Dadonov to the NHL this off-season, but still carry top prospects like Nikita Gusev and Igor Shestyorkin and talented veterans like Ilya Kovalchuk, Viktor Tikhonov, Sergei Plotnikov, and even long-time defenseman Maxim Chudinov, former property of the Bruins. Joining that mix could be a good career-move for the under-utilized Steen, could give SKA a further boost, and could help round out yet another promising prospect to add to the Bruins’ ranks.

Andreas Athanasiou Heading To Switzerland

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Detroit Red Wings restricted free agent forward Andreas Athanasiou remains unsigned… for now. The latest news on the league’s last remaining RFA comes from TSN’s Bob McKenzie, who shares that Athanasiou is on his way to Switzerland to skate with HC Lugano of the NLA. McKenzie was quick to add that Athanasiou has not signed Lugano and is still evaluating his options, but his commitment to going overseas for the time being raises more doubts that he will suit up in the NHL this season.

A recent poll revealed that most fans felt Athanasiou and former holdout Josh Anderson would each re-sign with their respective teams. The second most popular answer was that the pair would both play overseas. Anderson has done his part to prove true the majority, re-upping with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Athanasiou has not made any similar progress with Detroit and seems more likely to join in the dissenting opinion. Interestingly, it was Anderson who had been connected to the NLA this off-season, with Athanasiou reportedly fielding offers from the KHL. Athanasiou may still end up in Russia, but with an influx of talent heading to the NLA in recent years and the the past success of Lugano, who has not missed the playoffs in six years, the team is far from a poor fit. Athanasiou would be skating alongside former Red Wing Damien Brunner, as well as NHL veterans Maxim Lapierre and Bobby Sanguinetti should he sign with Lugano and the talented group could very well make a title run in 2017-18.

Still, the best thing for Athanasiou and for hockey is for the skilled 23-year-old to stay in North America. In just his second NHL season, the young center scored 18 goals and defied expectations for a Detroit team with few bright spots. The Red Wings may not want to overpay – in salary or term – for Athanasiou, who did have an unsustainable 15% shooting percentage in 2016-17 and is only in the early stages of developing a defensive game, but the best decision is always to work things out. Just ask the Dallas Stars, who missed the playoffs last season and had to go on a spending spree this summer in hopes of righting the ship. They would love to have Valeri Nichushkin back, the talented young winger who left the team in the summer of 2016 to head to the KHL, where he remains, after failing to come to terms in restricted free agency. Maybe the Red Wings would rather trade Athanasiou or maybe they’ll realize their mistake and work out a contract. Either way, there seems to be little upside to simply losing the scoring youth for this season (or longer). Athanasiou skating with Lugano may just be the straw that finally breaks Ken Holland’s back.

 

Jeff Tambellini To Retire, Coach At Michigan

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Former NHL forward Jeff Tambellini may be retiring from pro hockey, but he seems to have his next career already planned out. The University of Michigan revealed tonight that Tambellini will return to campus to finish his degree and has been named an “undergraduate assistant coach”. Tambellini himself has yet to recognize his retirement, but may never actually do so in any official capacity.

Normally, “graduate assistant coach” is a title given to recent grads helping out with their alma mater’s program in some way. Tambellini’s new title of “undergraduate assistant coach” is almost unheard of, but fitting for the former All-American who left Michigan a year early after three dominant seasons. He returns to finish his degree with over a decade of pro hockey experience under his belt.

A first-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2003, there were high expectations of Tambellini that only increased with each collegiate season. Yet, once he turned pro, the small, speedy forward struggled to skate around the opposition like he could in the NCAA. The Kings traded him to the Islanders after only four games with the team, sending he and Denis Grebeshkov to New York for Mark Parrish and Brent Sopel. Tambellini carved out a bottom-six/AHL depth role for himself on the island and played for New York for four more seasons, accumulating 46 points in 176 games. Tambellini played his final NHL season in 2010-11 with the Vancouver Canucks, posting a career-best 17 points and +10 rating in 62 games and playing in the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins.

Since then, Tambellini has had an up-and-down experience as a globe-trotting veteran. He was a force to reckon with in his first pro season outside the NHL, scoring 45 points in 50 games with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss NLA. Injuries limited his production in his second season with the Lions, so he moved on to Sweden, where he played well for MODO. He again struggled in the following year, splitting his time between the SHL and NLA, but not finding results in either location. 2015-16 marked an attempted NHL comeback, as Tambellini signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Despite impressive production in the AHL, Tambellini did not see any NHL action and headed back to Sweden last season, where he struggled mightily and, at the age of 33, likely decided it was time to hand up his skates.

However, his new opportunity with the Wolverines should allow Jeff to follow in his father’s footsteps. Steve Tambellini played ten years in the NHL, but is likely best known for his later work off the ice. Steve was the GM of the Edmonton Oilers from 2008 to 2013 and also previously worked for the Vancouver Canucks and Team Canada. He is currently a scout for the Anaheim Ducks. While Jeff seems to be heading more in a coaching route rather than toward a front office future, it is clear that hockey intelligence runs in the family and Jeff could have a shot a great coaching career, beginning with his return to Ann Arbor this season. Who knows, if coaching is a great fit for Jeff, he may end up back in the NHL, this time behind the bench, before little brother Adam Tambellini, a New York Rangers prospect, makes it to the big time himself.

Poll: The Fate Of The Remaining RFA’s

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Notable players have begun to be cut from training camps and placed on waivers as the season draws closer, under two weeks away now. Yet, two restricted free agents still have yet to even sign a new contract, nevertheless compete in camp. Columbus’ Josh Anderson and Detroit’s Andreas Athanasiou still remain unsigned long after agreements were reached in more difficult RFA cases like those of David Pastrnak and Sam Bennett. Not only do the pair still not have contracts for the coming year, but seemingly no progress has been made recently either.

After it was reported more than a week ago that there was a “vast gap” in negotiations between Anderson and the Blue Jackets, a recent update stated that “no progress” had been made since then either. The newest piece of information has Anderson traveling to Switzerland, where he could potentially meet with several NLA teams. Anderson has also spoken about the possibility of starring for Team Canada at the Olympics. Anderson scored 17 goals for Columbus last year, which would be quite a lot of production for a team chasing a division title to lose.

Athanasiou is beyond overseas speculation; he has several hard offers on the table from KHL clubs. While “talks continue” between the two sides, there has been no concrete news for days. The “Riley Sheahan-to-Pittsburgh” rumor, that is supposedly contingent on an agreement with Athanasiou, has obviously not happened either, as it has been all quiet from both the Red Wings and their talented, young player. Athanasiou scored 29 points in 64 games for the struggling Wings last year. Can a team lacking much game-breaking talent afford to lose such a player?

There are a lot of different ways that this could all end up. Either or both could simply sign with their current teams, whether it be in the coming weeks or early in the season like several 2016 cases. Either one could be traded to a team with greater need and greater ability to sign them to a deal that comes closer to their desired term and salary. Or, the nuclear option, both have expressed and interest (read: threatened) in going overseas and could pull the trigger if their team will not sign or trade them. Take a crack at the poll below and sort through a variety of endings to these RFA sagas:

What will happen to Anderson and Athanasiou
Both sign with their respective teams 34.75% (90 votes)
Both play overseas 18.15% (47 votes)
Anderson signs, Athanasiou plays in KHL 13.13% (34 votes)
Both traded 11.20% (29 votes)
Athanasiou signs, Anderson traded 8.49% (22 votes)
Anderson signs, Athanasiou traded 8.11% (21 votes)
Athanasiou signs, Anderson plays in NLA 6.18% (16 votes)
Total Votes: 259

Roster Or Bust For Sharks’ Noah Rod

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The “Russian Factor” is an old adage in hockey referring to the reluctance of some Russian players to fully commit to North American hockey. Thus far in his pro career, San Jose Sharks prospect Noah Rod may be pushing for “Swiss Factor” to gain some credence as well. A 2014 second-round pick and a highly-regarded young forward who played professionally in the Swiss NLA before the age of 18, Rod didn’t make his move overseas until late last season. After three seasons of only modest offense with Geneve-Servette HC, Rod turned some early season production – 14 points in 27 games – into leverage for a entry-level deal with the Sharks with hopes of an NHL shot. However, after inking a three-year, $2.43MM ELC on March 23rd, Rod skated in just two regular season games and five playoff games with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, recording only two points.

Now, with a new season upon us, Rod is again showing that he may not be committed to North America. Rod would like to play in San Jose this season, but with only one of the city’s two teams. The Swiss Hockey News reports that Rod seems unwilling to play with the Barracuda and would like to return to Switzerland if he cannot crack the Sharks roster. Rod will certainly be given plenty of play time in San Jose’s upcoming prospect showcase, a four-team tournament between Western Conference adversaries where he will skate alongside fellow Swiss forward prospect Vincent Praplan, and will likely see significant ice time in the preseason as well. However, if the Sharks decide that Rod is not yet ready for a full-time NHL role, they could lose his services altogether if he returns to Geneve-Servette. The historic club has a handful of former NHLers leading their forward corps – Nick Spaling, Nathan Gerbe, Cody Almond – but would love to add their homegrown young talent back into the mix.

By all accounts, not sticking Rod on the NHL roster, at least initially, would be a mistake by the Sharks. After an off-season in which the Sharks have thus far done practically nothing, including losing long-time star Patrick Marleau and adding only veteran checker Brandon Bollig to replace him, San Jose needs any scoring spark they can get this season to make up for Marleau’s lost production. Rod may not have been an offensive dynamo in the NLA, but he has improved each year and is still just 21 years old. The Sharks would be wise to give the Swiss winger an early season audition to gauge his NHL readiness and whether or not the team can afford to lose him for the 2017-18 season. On the other hand, if Rod truly wants to play in the NHL one day, he must develop quicker and adjust to the North American game, and would be wise to simply stay in San Jose to accomplish those goals, regardless of whether he begins the season in the NHL or AHL.

Drew Stafford Could Be This Year’s Kris Versteeg

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Last summer, Kris Versteeg didn’t get much action on the free agent market. He was 30, coming off a 38 point season in which he was traded at the deadline—basically a tradition in the NHL at this point—and ended up signing in Switzerland because he couldn’t find a contract around the league. A one-year deal with SC Bern of the NLA and Versteeg could try to rebuild his value while enjoying the sights of Europe. It was surely a bit disappointing, but it was at least a contract with a professional team. Only the disappointment wouldn’t end there. "<strong

Much later in the summer, Versteeg and Bern would end up terminating his contract because of some mixture of a failed medical and inability to gain insurance due to his previous hip injury, putting him back on the market after some NHL training camps had already begun. Again he was without a contract, and now without the ability to play in Europe (or at least for Bern) would have to slightly alter his plans. So Versteeg, the four-time 20-goal scorer and veteran of 550 NHL games, would sign a professional tryout with the (at that time) lowly Edmonton Oilers. With it came no guarantee of an NHL contract, but why not try out for a team close to home that has an up-and-coming core.

He’d stay with the Oilers for the next month, before abruptly signing with the rival Calgary Flames just a day before the two teams were set to kick off their seasons against each other. Versteeg’s deal would be for just $950K, and he’d pull on a Flames sweater on October 12th to open the year, playing 13:47 against the team he’d been practicing with for most of training camp. That $950K would go on to be quite a bargain, as Versteeg would put up 37 points in just 69 games and do enough to earn another contract—this time worth $1.75MM—with the Flames this spring.

"<strongThis summer, there seems to be a similar player left out in the cold after all the free agent shopping has been done. Drew Stafford has had very little written about him since the free agent period began, other than some thought that Boston had quickly moved on from the idea of bringing him back. Like Versteeg, Stafford had been traded mid-season, where he found some success with the Bruins down the stretch by registering eight points in 18 games. Though not a top-line player anymore, he still can provide some secondary scoring in the right situation.

Stafford, less than a year older than Versteeg will turn 32 this October and could still help an NHL team even if he’s not the 30-goal scorer of his youth. He’s just a year removed from registering 21 goals, but looks like he may have to take a PTO of his own in order to showcase that he still has some game left in him. He can still be an effective penalty killer, and won’t hurt you defensively if deployed in a bottom-six role, but has the offensive chops to move up on a short-term basis to fill in for injury. He’s a worthwhile experiment on a no-risk PTO, especially with the upside of an almost-free 20-goal man.

If he can’t find work this year in the NHL, there is also the opportunity that the Olympics present as he could easily make a US squad that will be made up of mostly college-aged players. Stafford would instantly provide some international experience, as he won World Junior gold back in 2004 and has suited up for Team USA in the World Championships three times. And, iff not the Olympics, there’s always Bern* (*pending medical evaluation).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Defensive Logjam In Dallas Not Concerning

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The Dallas Stars are in an enviable position, but one that might prompt a trade in the near future. After years of drafting heavily on defense, their prospect pool at the position is incredibly deep. Heading into training camp, at present, they will have at least 9 defensemen fighting for 7 roster spots. Theoretically, the could keep 8 on the roster for a time and keep only one spare forward, but ultimately, someone is going to lose out.

As of today, the team has Marc Methot, John Klingberg, Dan Hamhuis, Esa Lindell as their highest paid defenders. They also have Patrik Nemeth, Greg Pateryn, and Stephen Johns signed to NHL contracts, who are all over the age of 25 and would be waiver eligible if the team attempted to waive them for AHL use. There is also the still promising Jamie Oleksiak, an RFA who still needs to negotiate his contract. Finally, Julius Honka looks ready to take an NHL roster position after spot duty in Dallas last season. There are also more defensemen on the horizon, including the steal of a first-round pick of this season, Miro Heiskanen. Heiskaen is likely to return to his native Finland, but less talented players have forced teams to keep them on board. So, who makes the team? And will anyone be on the move?

Discounting the most expensive four, Nemeth and others should be concerned about being usurped. It seems that Honka has proven everything he can at the AHL level, and with his talent could end up outclassing everyone not named Klingberg or Methot with a good camp showing. Still, he can be moved down without needing to clear waivers. Oleksiak has shown real flashes as a former first-round shutdown player, but Pateryn and Nemeth both ended up playing a similar number of contests last season, and are second-rounders themselves. Despite limited action, their possession numbers were solid (49.9% and 51.3% respectively Corsi For) and there aren’t major faults in either players’ games. Oleksiak still has kinks to work out in his game, but his size (6’7) is probably just too tempting to move him at the tender age of 24. Johns played more games of any of the others, and brings a physicality that will likely endear him to new head coach Ken Hitchcock, despite his other shortcomings.

Ultimately, this is a camp that will be brutally competitive. The Stars won’t want to lose any of these players for nothing. Teams are always looking for youngish defenders on the cheap, and both Pateryn and Oleksiak would fit that bill nicely. Hamhuis would be tempting to move out, but he still eats a ton of minutes and provides veteran leadership to a young group. Lindell isn’t safe either, and moving his salary ($2.2) would be more helpful than unloading the cheap Pateryn or Johns. At the end of the day, it’s a wonderful problem to have, as depth at the position is always integral when players go down to injury. The Dallas Morning News’ Mike Heika is probably correct in his prediction that the organization will allow the situation to sort itself out on its own. Internal competition can be healthy, and by September many teams will be desperate to fill defensive holes on the cheap. Still, it will be a fascinating situation to watch develop.

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